Atlanta Airport: Delta Issues Refunds & Flight Waivers

It’s now clear: People stranded in the Atlanta airport due to the major power outage could expect the problem to be resolved… around midnight. That’s 11 hours after the blackout started.

That has a lot of angry passengers wondering: How do you get a flight waiver or refund? Delta, the largest carrier serving Atlanta, has issued such a policy.

Delta announced that it would grant refunds to people who are affected by the power outage in Atlanta. Delta wrote on its website, “Due to a power outage at the Atlanta airport, travel to/from/through the cities below may be impacted. Check flight status frequently for up-to-the-minute info about your flight plans, or get updates sent directly to your mobile device or by email with One-Time Flight Notification.”

As for flight cancellations and refunds, Delta continued: “If you wish to cancel your trip as a result of a flight cancellation or significant delay (90 minutes or more), you are entitled to a refund for the unused portion of your ticket. Even if your flight is not canceled, you may make a one-time change to your ticket without fee if you are scheduled to travel to, from, or through the following destination(s) on Delta, Delta Connection®, or Delta-coded flights during the specified time periods…” You can obtain more information here.

The major power outage stranded hundreds of passengers at the Atlanta airport on December 17, grounding flights, and leaving the airport in the dark.

Georgia Power now says the power outage was likely caused by a fire. In a news release, the utility wrote that Georgia Power “continues to work closely with Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport personnel onsite to restore power to the Airport as quickly as possible. Assessment and repair efforts are well underway at this time and the company expects to have power restored to the Airport by midnight tonight.”

Georgia Power believes the issue may have involved a fire which caused extensive damage in a Georgia Power underground electrical facility. “The fire was safely extinguished by fire crews before Georgia Power could enter the area to assess damage and begin repairs,” the utility wrote in a news release. “The event impacted not only the underground facilities but also substations serving the Airport and, while the cause if not yet known, Georgia Power’s system responded by isolating areas where equipment wasn’t operating correctly to ensure safety and minimized damage. No personnel or passengers were in danger at any time. Georgia Power has many redundant systems in place to ensure reliability for the Airport and its millions of travelers – power outages affecting the Airport are very rare.”

The city of Atlanta shared the press release on its Twitter page.

Although Georgia Power estimated the problem would be rectified by midnight, Flight Aware, a website that tracks flights, wrote, “…all inbound flights being held at their origin until Sunday at 08:00PM EST. Arrival delays for airborne aircraft an average of 29 minutes. Departure delays an average of 1 hours 25 minutes.”

At 4 p.m., the airport released a press release saying that the cause of the power outage remained under investigation. “ATL officials are working with Georgia power to identify the cause and remedy the situation, and will update as soon as more information is made available, “ wrote the airport, which reported that the power outage occurred shortly after 1 p.m. on December 17.

The airport noted that the Federal Aviation Administration had issued a ground stop for flights headed to Atlanta’s airport, with many flights inbound to Atlanta being diverted. “A ground stop means that flights headed to Atlanta are held on the ground at their departure airport,” reported the airport.

The airport directed passengers to their individual airlines’ social media channels as well as its own.

“A Delta Air Lines pilot said a construction crew cut a power line, causing the outage,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported early on, but that was before Georgia Power released the information about a fire. Reporter Joe Henke of 11AliveNews tweeted, “@GeorgiaPower confirms there is a power outage at @ATLairport. GA Power confirms they have crews headed that way. No further details at this moment.”

The airport tweeted that the cut power line report was not confirmed.

Henke also wrote, “@ATLairport spokesman tells NBC News power outage happened around 12:55 p.m. Cause is an electrical issue at GA Power substation. @GeorgiaPower and @ATLFireRescue at the airport. A large portion of Hartsfield-Jackson is impacted.”

At 7:30 p.m, the power was back on in one concourse.

Passengers were irate, reporting being trapped on escalators and stuck on airplanes. Delta was offering a refund for people affected. You can get more information here.

Angry passengers filled Twitter with comments and concerns. Wrote one, “Allow ground traffic to the location and we can leave. That should be a priority. Travelers have been on the ground for hours without power and are unable to leave.”